Dual-View Display Panel Structure and Method for Producing the Same

ABSTRACT

A dual view display structure and a method for producing the same are provided. First, a display panel is provided. Then, a patterned barrier layer is formed on a transparent substrate. The transparent substrate with the patterned barrier layer is attached to the display panel. Because there is a gap between the display panel and the patterned barrier layer, a liquid transparent material is injected into the gap to form a transparent material layer to fill the gap. The invention can not only increase the viewing angles of the dual view display, but also increase the production yield.

This application claims the benefit from the priority of Taiwan PatentApplication No. 096139577 filed on Oct. 19, 2007; the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panelstructure and a method for producing the same; and more particularly, toa dual-view display panel structure and a method for producing the same.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

The dual-view display, which is mainly used as an on-board display,displays two-dimensional images at different angles for users to viewdifferent images from different angles. For example, by using adual-view display, it is possible for passengers seated at differentpositions in a vehicle to view different images from a single display.In this way, the need to furnish a respective display for eachindividual is eliminated, thus saving associated costs and reduce thespace occupied by the other displays in the vehicle.

A dual-view display operates primarily on the blocking effect providedby a patterned barrier layer. When users on both the left and rightsides of the display view the same pixel on the pixel layer thereof, theblocking effect of the patterned barrier layer will prevent users oneither side from viewing the pixel. As a result, users on both sideswill view different images from each other, thus obtaining, a dual-vieweffect.

FIG. 1 illustrates an imaging process of a prior art dual-view displaypanel structure 10. The dual-view display panel structure comprises asecond substrate 11, a liquid crystal (LC) layer 12, a pixel layer 13, afirst substrate 14, a patterned barrier layer 15 and a transparentsubstrate 16, in which the patterned barrier layer 15 further comprisesopaque barrier patterns 151, 152, 153 and 154. This structure differsfrom conventional single-view display panel structures mainly in thatthe blocking function of the patterned barrier layer 15 may result in adual-view effect.

The principle under which a dual-view displaying effect is accomplishedwill now be described with reference to FIG. 1. When users on both theleft and right sides of a left image on the pixel layer 13 view the samepixel, light directed from the pixel towards the right side will beblocked by the barrier pattern 152, while light directed towards theleft side passes through the patterned barrier layer 15 directly withoutbeing blocked. Similarly, light directed from the right image towardsthe left side will be blocked by the barrier pattern 152, while thelight directed from the right image towards the right side may propagateto users on the right side. Consequently, the pixel appears to displaydifferent images to users on different sides, thus, yielding a dual-vieweffect.

In producing a dual-view display panel of the prior art, there are anumber of factors, such as the number of glass layers, uniformity of thethickness in the barrier layer, and size of the gaps, that may impactthe production yield. Any of these factors may lead to thesuperimposition of the right and left images and consequently lead to anarrowed viewing angle range. Accordingly, it is highly desirable in theart to provide an improved method for producing a dual-view displaypanel to simplify the manufacturing process, promote the productionyield, and widen the viewing angle range.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of this invention is to provide a method for producing adual-view display panel structure. This method improves the lighttransmission of the display panel and widens the viewing angle range byreducing the number of glass layers required in the display panel.

This method comprises the following steps: (1) providing a display panelwhich includes a glass substrate; (2) thinning the glass substrate to apredetermined thickness; and (3) forming a patterned barrier layer onthe glass substrate.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a method for producinga dual-view display panel structure. According to this method, theproblems caused by the uneven thicknesses in the transparent materiallayer, that is, the excessive gap distance between the substrates andconsequent narrowed viewing angle range, can be ameliorated, thereby,increasing the production yield.

This method comprises the following steps: (1) forming a patternedbarrier layer on the first substrate; (2) forming a transparent materiallayer on the patterned barrier layer; (3) forming a planarization layeron the transparent material layer; (4) forming a pixel layer on theplanarization layer; and (5) assembling a second substrate with thefirst substrate to form a display panel.

Yet a further objective of this invention is to provide a dual-viewdisplay panel structure. By coating a planarization layer onto thetransparent material layer of the display panel, a uniform overallthickness will be achieved, resulting in a reduced gap formation. Thismay widen the viewing angle range and hence, increase the productionyield.

This structure comprises: a first substrate; a patterned barrier layerformed on the first substrate; a transparent material layer formed onthe patterned barrier layer; a planarization layer formed on thetransparent material layer; a pixel layer formed on the planarizationlayer; and a second substrate assembled with the first substrate to forma display panel.

Still another objective of this invention is to provide a method forproducing a dual-view display panel structure. According to this method,gaps within the display panel are filled with a liquid transparentmaterial, which may reduce defective images and increase the productionyield of the display panel.

This method comprises the following steps: (1) providing a display paneland a transparent substrate; (2) forming a patterned barrier layer onthe the transparent substrate; (3) attaching the first substrate withthe patterned barrier layer to the display panel, wherein a gap isformed between the display panel and the patterned barrier layer; and(4) forming a transparent material layer by filling a liquid transparentmaterial into the gap.

Still a further objective of this invention is to provide a dual-viewdisplay panel structure. By filling a liquid transparent material into agap in the display panel, this structure improves the imaging defects ofthe panel structure in the prior art, thereby widening the viewing anglerange of the display panel.

This structure comprises a display panel, a transparent substrate, apatterned barrier layer formed on the transparent substrate, and atransparent material layer formed in a gap between the patterned barrierlayer and the display panel, wherein the transparent material layer ismade of a liquid transparent material.

To summarize, this invention provides a dual-view display panelstructure and a method for producing the same. With this invention,defective images are avoidable due to the improvements to the structureof the dual-view display panels of the prior art. Consequently, theviewing angle range of the display panel is widened and the productionyield is increased.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an imaging structure of a dual-view display panelstructure of the prior art;

FIG. 2A illustrates a structure in accordance with the first embodimentof this invention;

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the firstembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3A illustrates a structure in accordance with the second embodimentof this invention;

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the secondembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates a structure in accordance with the third embodimentof this invention; and

FIG. 4B is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the thirdembodiment of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This invention relates to a dual-view display panel structure and amethod for producing the same. Embodiments will be described below toexplain this invention. However, these embodiments are not intended tolimit the application or method of this invention in any specificcontext. Therefore, description of the embodiments is only intended toillustrate rather than to limit this invention. It should be noted that,in the following embodiments and attached drawings, elements unrelatedto this invention are omitted from depiction.

FIG. 2A depicts the first embodiment of this invention, which is adual-view display panel structure 20. The dual-view display panelstructure 20 comprises a display panel 21, a patterned barrier layer 23,a planarization layer 24 and a polarized layer 25. The display panel 21comprises at least one glass substrate 211, for example, a color filtersubstrate. In addition, the display panel 21 further comprises an arraysubstrate 212, and may also comprise other conventional displayelements, such as a pixel layer (not shown) formed on the glasssubstrate 211 and an liquid crystal (LC) layer (not shown) formedbetween the array substrate 212 and the glass substrate 211. The glasssubstrate 211 is adapted to form the patterned barrier layer 23 on asurface thereof. The patterned barrier layer 23 is adapted to yield adual-view effect. The planarization layer 24 is an organic materiallayer formed on the patterned barrier layer 23 to provide a relativelyplanar surface so that the possibility of gap formation is mitigatedduring the assembly of the display panel. A method for producing thedual-view display panel structure 20 will be described in detailhereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 2B, a flow diagram illustrates a process of producingthe dual-view display panel structure 20. This process begins with step201, in which the display panel 21 comprising at least one glasssubstrate 211 is provided. Next, in step 202, the glass substrate 211 isthinned to a predetermined thickness. Specifically, in this step, theglass substrate 211 is thinned to a thickness ranging from 30 μm to 200μm, and in this embodiment, to a thickness of 50 μm. It should be notedthat the thickness of the glass substrate 211 is interrelated with thewidth of an opaque pattern of the patterned barrier layer 23. In otherwords, in order for the patterned barrier layer 23 to yield a dual-vieweffect, the thickness of the glass substrate 211 should have acorresponding relationship with the width of the opaque pattern.Otherwise the dual-view imaging effect would be adversely disturbed. Theglass substrate 211 can be thinned by means of a chemical mechanicalpolishing (CMP) method to be thinned in a completely uniform way.

After the thinning step, a patterned barrier layer 23 is formed on theglass substrate 211 in step 203. In this step, a barrier layer may beformed first on a surface of the glass substrate 211 subjected to thethinning treatment and then patterned to form a patterned barrier layer23. Alternatively, a patterned barrier layer 23 may be formed directlyon the glass substrate 211. With the aid of the blocking effect providedby these opaque barrier patterns, it is possible to yield a dual-viewdisplaying effect.

The method of forming a barrier pattern will now be described in moredetail. The first method is to print the patterned barrier layer 23 onthe glass substrate 21 by screen printing. More specifically, in thismethod, an opaque black resin is printed onto the surface of the glasssubstrate 211 to directly form a barrier pattern. The resulting barrierpattern is then subjected to a baking process to volatilize the solventcontained in the resin thoroughly and have the reaction settled downcompletely, thus completing the production of the barrier pattern.

Another method is to form an opaque black resin on the glass substrate211 and then pattern the opaque black resin. More specifically, in thismethod, an opaque black resin is coated on the surface of the thinnedglass substrate 211, and is then subjected to an exposure anddevelopment process to remove the black resin in the transparentregions. The black resin in the opaque region is remained. Finally, thepatterned black resin coating is subjected to a baking process at a hightemperature to finish the complete reaction of the black resin, thus,obtaining a barrier pattern.

The barrier pattern may result in slight unevenness on the surface ofthe patterned barrier layer 23. In view of this, subsequent to formationof the patterned barrier layer 23, a planarization layer 24, i.e., anorganic material layer, is optionally formed thereon in step 204.Finally, in step 205, a polarized layer 25 is formed on the patternedbarrier layer 23.

According to the method for producing a dual-view display panelstructure 20 of this embodiment, the patterned barrier layer 23 isformed directly on the glass substrate 211. Compared to the conventionalmethod, this may reduce the number of glass layers required, therebyincreasing light transmission and consequently, improve the dual-viewimaging effect. Furthermore, it is also possible to obviate assemblingerrors which would otherwise tend to occur during the assembly of thetwo glass substrates.

FIG. 3A depicts a second embodiment of this invention, which is adual-view display panel structure 30. The dual-view display panelstructure 30 comprises a first substrate 31, a patterned barrier layer32, a transparent material layer 33, a planarization layer 34, a pixellayer 35 and a second substrate 36.

The first substrate 31 is a glass substrate to be a color filtersubstrate. The patterned barrier layer 32 is formed on the firstsubstrate 31 for yielding a dual-view effect. The transparent materiallayer 33, which is made of a transparent macromolecular material, is inturn formed on the patterned barrier layer 32 to combine with thepatterned barrier layer 32 to yield a dual-view effect. Theplanarization layer 34, which is made of an organic material, is formedon the transparent material layer 33, and is adapted to control theuniformity in the thickness of the transparent material layer 33. Thepixel layer 35 is formed on the planarization layer 34, and is forexample, a color filter layer, in which the pixel positions are definedby a black matrix in the color filter layer. The second substrate 36comprises an array layer (not shown) with a thin film transistor (TFT)array thereon, and is assembled with the first substrate 31 to form adisplay panel. When being assembled, the pixel layer 35 and the arraylayer are arranged to face inwards. A liquid crystal layer (not shown)is filled between the first substrate 31 and the second substrate 36,which is well-know to those skilled in the art and will not be describedin detail herein.

In the dual-view display panel structure 30, the transparent materiallayer 33 is coated on the patterned barrier layer 32 by spin coating toa thickness ranging from 30 μm to 200 μm. For example, assuming that thetransparent material layer 33 has a thickness of 50 μm and a coatinguniformity of 3%, a thickness variation up to 1.5 μm would result infailing to satisfy the requirement of a less than 0.3 μm gap distance inthe liquid crystal panel and lead to a decreased production yield. Anexcessively poor uniformity of the transparent material layer 33 wouldlead to exacerbated light scattering and consequently degrade adefinition of images. In contrast, by forming a planarization layer 34of about 4 μm in thickness on the transparent material layer 33, theoverall uniformity in thickness can be controlled to be within 0.3 μm.

The process of producing the dual-view display panel structure 30 willnow be described. As shown in FIG. 3B, this process begins with step301, where a patterned barrier layer 32 is formed on the first substrate31. Next, in step 302, a transparent material layer 33 is formed on thepatterned barrier layer 32. In particular, the step of forming thetransparent material layer 33 on the patterned barrier layer 32 isaccomplished by spin coating the macromolecular material layer on thepatterned barrier layer 32.

Then, in step 303, a planarization layer 34 is formed on the transparentmaterial layer 33. In particular, this step is accomplished by spincoating an organic material layer on the transparent material layer 33.The organic layer used for the planarization layer 34 should have a lowviscosity and high blanketing capability. Then, in step 304, a pixellayer 35, for example, a color filter layer, is formed on theplanarization layer 34, and finally, in step 305, a second substrate 36is assembled with the first substrate 31 to form a display panel.

According to the dual-view display panel structure 30 and the producingmethod thereof in this embodiment, the transparent material layer 33 isspin coated to a thickness of about 50 μm, and then, a planarizationlayer 34 is formed thereon to obviate the uneven thickness due to theimproper control of process tolerance of the transparent material layer33. This may minimize the loss of yield due to an uneven gap in thedual-view liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 4A depicts a third embodiment of this invention, which is adual-view display panel structure 40. The dual-view display panelstructure 40 comprises a transparent substrate 41, a patterned barrierlayer 42, a transparent material layer 43, and a display panel 44. Thepatterned barrier layer 42 is formed on the transparent substrate 41 foryielding a dual-view displaying effect. In application, the displaypanel 44 may comprise a first substrate 441, a pixel layer 442 formed onthe first substrate 441, an LC layer 443 and a second substrate 444, inwhich the LC layer 443 is disposed between the pixel layer 442 and thesecond substrate 444. The transparent material layer 43 is made of aliquid transparent material and is formed in a gap between the patternedbarrier layer 42 and the first substrate 441 of the display panel 44.

In this embodiment, the transparent substrate 41 with the patternedbarrier layer 42 formed thereon is attached to the first substrate 441of the display panel 44 to produce the dual-view display panel structure40. However, when implemented, the display panel 44 and the patternedbarrier layer 42 tend to have a gap formed therebetween, which maynarrow the viewing angle range of the dual-view display significantly.In view of this, a liquid transparent material (e.g., optical oil)having a refractive index larger than that of the air is filled into thegap between the display panel 44 and the patterned barrier layer 42 toform a transparent material layer 43. Thus, by filling the gap entirelywith such a liquid transparent material, the adverse impact imposed bythe gap can be obviated.

The process of producing the dual-view display panel structure 40 willnow be described. FIG. 4B illustrates the flow diagram of a process forproducing the dual-view display panel structure 40. This process beginswith step 401, where a display panel 44 and a transparent substrate 41are provided. Then, in step 402, a patterned barrier layer 42 is formedon the transparent substrate 41. Next, in step 403, the transparentsubstrate 41 with the patterned barrier layer 42 formed thereon isattached to the display panel 44. At this point, a gap will be formedbetween the display panel 44 and the patterned barrier layer 42.

Prior to filling a liquid transparent material into the gap, step 404 isexecuted to exhaust air from the gap to shorten the gap distance. Thishelps to achieve a higher precision when assembling the transparentmaterial layer 41 with the display panel 44. Finally, in step 405, aliquid transparent material is filled into the gap to form a transparentmaterial layer 43. The liquid transparent material is just as describedabove, and will not be described in detail herein.

According to the dual-view display panel structure 40 and the producingmethod thereof in this embodiment, a liquid transparent material isfilled into the gap between the display panel 44 and the patternedbarrier layer 42 to eliminate the adverse impact imposed by the gap. Asa result, the viewing angle range of the display panel is widened. Inaddition, the production yield is also increased.

In summary, this invention provides a dual-view display panel structureand a method for producing the same. With the novel structure andproducing method disclosed in this invention, it is possible to obtain arelatively larger viewing angle range, as well as increase theproduction yield on the other hand, thus, overcoming disadvantages ofthe prior art in these respects.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

1. A method for producing a dual-view display panel structure,comprising the steps of: providing a display panel which at leastincludes a glass substrate; thinning the glass substrate to apredetermined thickness; and forming a patterned barrier layer on theglass substrate.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stepof forming the patterned barrier layer includes printing the patternedbarrier layer on the glass substrate by screen printing.
 3. The methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of forming patterned barrierlayer includes forming an opaque black resin on the glass substrate andpatterning the opaque black resin.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the step of thinning the glass substrate includes thining theglass substrate substantially to a thickness between 30 and 200micrometers.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising astep of forming a planarization layer on the patterned barrier layer. 6.The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the step of forming theplanarization layer on the patterned barrier layer includes forming alayer of organic material on the patterned barrier layer.
 7. The methodas claimed in claim 1, further comprising a step of forming a polarizedlayer on the patterned barrier layer.
 8. A method for producing adual-view display panel structure, comprising the steps of: forming apatterned barrier layer on a first substrate; forming a transparentmaterial layer on the patterned barrier layer; forming a planarizationlayer on the transparent material layer; forming a pixel layer on theplanarization layer; and assembling a second substrate with the firstsubstrate.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step offorming the planarization layer on the transparent material layerincludes forming the planarization layer on the transparent materiallayer by spin coating.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein thestep of forming the transparent material layer on the patterned barrierlayer includes forming a layer of macromolecular material on thepatterned barrier layer.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 8, whereinthe step of forming the planarization layer on the transparent materiallayer includes forming a layer of organic material on the transparentmaterial layer.
 12. A dual-view display panel structure comprising: afirst substrate; a patterned barrier layer formed on the firstsubstrate; a transparent material layer formed on the patterned barrierlayer; a planarization layer formed on the transparent material layer; apixel layer formed on the planarization layer; and a second substrate,assembled with the first substrate.
 13. The dual-view display panelstructure as claimed in claim 12, wherein the transparent material layeris made of transparent macromolecular materials.
 14. The dual-viewdisplay panel structure as claimed in claim 12, wherein theplanarization layer is made of organic materials.
 15. A method forproducing a dual-view display panel structure, comprising the steps of:providing a display panel and a transparent substrate; forming apatterned barrier layer on the transparent substrate; attaching thetransparent substrate having the patterned barrier layer to the displaypanel, wherein a gap is formed between the display panel and thepatterned barrier layer; and forming a transparent material layer byfilling a liquid transparent material into the gap.
 16. The method asclaimed in claim 15, further comprising a step of exhausting air fromthe gap to decrease the gap distance.
 17. The method as claimed in claim15, wherein the liquid transparent material has a refractive indexbigger than that of the air.
 18. The method as claimed in claim 15,wherein the liquid transparent material is optical oil.
 19. A dual-viewdisplay panel structure comprising: a display panel; a transparentsubstrate; a patterned barrier layer formed on the transparentsubstrate; and a transparent material layer formed in a gap between thepatterned barrier layer and the display panel and the transparentmaterial layer is made of a liquid transparent material.
 20. Thedual-view display panel structure as claimed in claim 19, wherein therefractive index of the liquid transparent material is bigger than thatof the air.
 21. The dual-view display panel structure as claimed inclaim 19, wherein the liquid transparent material is optical oil. 22.The dual-view display panel structure as claimed in claim 19, whereinthe display panel including: a first substrate; a pixel layer formed onthe first substrate; a second substrate; and a liquid crystal layerlocated between the pixel layer and the second substrate.